Method of molding phonograph-records.



J. W. AYLSWORTH. METHOD OF MOLDING PHGNOGRAPH RECORDS, AP'LLICATXON ULEB 1,121.20, 1911.

1,075,897. Patented M14, 1913.

UNirED srAfrEs PATENT enrich.

JONAS W. AYLSWORTH, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO NEW JERSEY PATENT COMPANY, OF WEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION F NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF MOLDING PHONOGRAPH-RECORDS.

' Patented Oct. 14,1913.

@riginal application filed April 29, 1909, Serial No. 493,053. Divided and this application filed January To all whom it may conf-em.'

Be it known that I, JONAS W. ArnswoR'rH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of East Orange, in the county o`f vllssex and State of New Jersey, have in- Jvented a certainnew and useful Method of Molding Phonograph-Records, of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to a process for forming cylindrical phonograph records by centrifugal force, thisapplication being a division of my application Serial No. 493,053, phonograph record and method of molding the same, tiled April 29, 1909. h

The object ofmy invention is to furnish a method by which a cylindrical record'may be molded by the well known spinning or centrifugal method and the same furnished with concentric rings affixed to or incorporated with the inner bore ot the record so formed, the said rings preferably being of such inner diameters and being so placed as to afford a taper bearing surface for the cylindrical record, by which the record so lrnztnufactured may be easily and effectively supported on the usual taper mandrel of a phonograph. By this-means, the step of teaming or otherwise preparing thebore of' -a record cylinder which has been4 molded Centrifugally to prepare the same to fit lupon a .taper mandrel is eliminated with a consequent saving of time and material. The rings employed in the process and. in" coporatemdji'fith the record as the finished product are Vpreviously formed of some material which will lree its sha e at the melting temperature of t 1e recr material, and

are secured inplace in the properl position o in the mold before the record material isin` 40 serted ther in.- These rings should lprefera ly, be ormed of some material whose:

`coe` cient of expansion is equal to orv is ap'- prox'imatel thev same as that of the material used for fbrrning` the body of the record.

The rings may either be fomed of some material different from 'that of the record composition, or incertain casesas will hereafter be pointed out, the rings may be formed of the same material as the record:

coin'ios'ition. w

- i tention is hereby directed to vthe a'c` companying drawings, forming part of-this specification, and Lin which- Serial No. 603,678.

Figure 1 represents a vertical longitudinal cross section through one Jform of mold in which my improved process is adapted tobe carried out and my improved record formed, the record being shown as formed therein. Fig. 2 represents in longitudinal central cross section a record formed with a vsomewhat.diiierent type of bearing ring,

the'same being shown as mounted upon the 'of the mold 4. The cap 5 is thenserewed intoposition in the mold 4, the reduced pel riphery 6 of the cap 5 engaging the inner vfperlphery of the annular member 2. The

erent type, in which spiral spring 7 is inserted between memy bers 5 and 2 so that it member 2 is prevented A from closely contacting the end of the mold surface at shoulder 3 by bits of hardened -wax or the lik-egwhich later will be melted by thehot mold during the process of molding, the spring `7 will cause' thc annular member 2 to move forwardto engage more closely' the shoulder 3. At the other-end of the mold, the ring 8 is placed in position around the smaller diameter of the cap '9, as shown, the cap 9 then being screwed into engagement with the mold 4 by means of the threaded engagement between the shoulder 10 of the cap 9 and the mold. The mold limay be formed with an inwardlyprojecting shoulder 1l., as shown, which contacts the outer periphery of the ring8 when the cap 9 is screwed into position as shown. The

record material in molten or plastic condi-` tionv of a measured quantity to produce av record of the desired thickness, is then introd'ced into the mold, which is then roi tatcd to form the record l2 on the record suiface of the mold in the Well known man# ner. When the record is so formed, the

rings ifi-and 8 will Contact the bore of the record, the ring l, as shown, having a round-v toA ed "projetioncir'clig the ma f the record 12, while the-rin When the recordhas properly solidified,

the samemay be extracted, from the mold,

either by the WellA known shrinking process as ide/scribed in, my Patent No.- '713,209,-

granted-Novll, 1902, or. by the method due-A' scribediin my'application'No. 487,360, filed April 1,1909, ffor process of'manufacturing soundrecords.. .In removing-,the record, the

rings yieldbycontraction or-e'xternal pressure suiiiciently.- to. allow the withdrawal of the, 'record fromthe matrix, the rings being annular' member 2 and "the subsequent re-v moval ef' ther ec ord.ffrom the ,.m'atrix, the

rings-will adhere firmly to the record.. Inthe record "shown in Fig. 1,- theend fot ring 8.'.-

extending beyond. the 'end ofsrecord 12cm be' 'cu-t orl otherwise removed; Y"

In Figgenhqffee raie, fefmekifwiiiljfin'gg tion on the .tper-*man' rel' illustrate lin dotted lines the ring"s. 1. and Snfqrding bearing surface' thereon-for the record, In this illustration, the rings 1 and 8 'both overlapJhe-ends'of-therecordlahd they are illustrated`as 'seatedona -portiono the bore'of'therecord oomewhat enlarged di ameter. In this record the. title of the'selection may be `impressedon the' outer surface Y ring 8, whil'eiin the" record illustrated' iin Fig. v1I the .une of the-seltenen could -ne amold surface'on theinner 'sideiof shoul- A In Fig; 3 is illustrated `amold 'yrhich isi-vn- Aintegrally therewith the hollow core 15.

.tended-for rotation about a. vertical axis. i *.45

In this,` apparatus, Vthe vertical spindle ".14 which is adapted tobe.- rotated ,at high speeds -byany conxfenientV means, has; formed this. case the .outer periphery of. the core 15 is, tapered -and aboutthismay placed a number off concentric rings 16,I which are placed at. any- Jdesired .intervals along the outer surface of; core 15.,"` the rings being 1 vin'positionon'-theshoulder 18 ofthe spindle .in the outer 'endfof vmold 17 and onthe {outer' i vperipheryofthe upperportion of core 15,

andfall the parts' securely fastened together by screvyinggthe ring 20, which is threaded on `i tsbo re, on the outer end ofcore A15, and

adaptedto', t'snugly oyerthe'same in their respective-positions, rThe mold 17 is placed 1 4, the rng-19 placed in position in a recess into -frm 'contact .with 4the upper' surface of ring`19g-The ring 19 then bridges acro an annular space between the mold surface and 0' 8 is formed with anl A mold 1li-f Suitable material the outer `periphery of the core"15, which space tapers uniformly from the` loverto' the upper end.

The record composition vis poured .in the central tube 21 of'the hollow core-15 vWhile the spindle 14 is rotated at a high speed, the

cdmposition of measured quantity passing;

.through the passages 22 at the foot-of theiY lcore 15 into the annular space betvnveen'theVV Amold and the core,in which'- space itdifS tributes' itself uniformly under the Centrifugal action rising to the top`of the' :in f

nular space and'forming'th'e cylindrical ree-- ord 23,vin'. whic h the ringslv .are embeddedv` A different distances, therebysfording .the de" sired tapered bearing' for the record.;

the record has cooled orotherwise solidiiiedh sufficiently, therings 19 and 20 .may bd'ref moved and therecord having the rings 16l1 incorporated therewith, extracted' i.jfromn' the for the e'ontructionfof the rings are paper pulp, pressed to form' rings and saturated with suitable binding material, hard rubber, or any rubberwhichf- .will not melt to such anextentas to lose-its. shape at. the .temperature of. the molding operation, Celluloid, -wovenQfabric of `cotton-` saturated' With suitable 'bindingf' -material and pressed. WVith such rings, thel composition used may bea-ny suitable record composition, such as thevMontan wax conipos..-

tion mentioned in Patent No. 880,707, granti .edMarch' 1908, andV shellac compositions. 'mentioned in applications of ,Thomas A;

Edison, 481,167 and 481,168, tiled-March 3,

-19o9. y. In case the recordcomposition -is formed of mnterlal which may be moldedv in a -plas' tie state', and which reacts in thev mold by polymerization or equivalent hardeningv action o n application of heat toform a non.-

stances mentioned in my applications No;

493,416 and' No. 493,258, ledMayfi, 1909,

.rings formed of the same material or` ofy other non-'plastic infusible similar substance' `having thesame or approximately the same:

coeicient of expansion as that of themass" being molded, may be used -if desired, ill-" though-in the case of such substances, it is,

obvious that any rings of-'the character prean i placed in position inthemold before the" materialv is introduced therein. vThe rings which may be, for example,` formed of a resinized phenol Y condensation product, ma be so' treated'before insertion into the mod as to be in their final stage, inwhich they are non-plastic and infu'sible. In this Vao case there would be no fusion between the rings and the material of the record, and the rings might, if desired, be formed with a roughened surface to aid their adhesion to the record. Or rings of the same general character might be formed, the material thereof being so treated as to remain in an intermediate stage in which the substance is infusible, but yields to application of heat sufficiently to become somewhat plastic without losing its shape. If the rings are used in this condition they may run slightly at the temperature of the reaction in the mold, and become welded to the record to form a substantially integral structure therewith.

The mold shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings is adapted to be rotated in a centrifugal molding machine of the well known type, While the mold illustrated in Fig. 3 is adap'ted to be rotated about a vertical axis in the manner described in my application Serial No. 500,415 filed June 5, 1909.

Having now described my invention,what yI claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is as follows 1. The process of producing duplicate sound records which consists in placing concentrically within a suitable rotatable cylindrical mold a. plurality of rings of material which Will not flow at the temperature at which the record mass is molded, said rings being so placed and of such diameters that `he inner surfaces thereof form bearing surfaces adapted to t a taper mandrel, introducing a measured quantity of record material into the mold and rotating the mold to form a cylindrical record of the molten or fluid material in contact with the mold surface on its outer surface and in contact with the said rings on its inner surface, and in extracting the record when formed with the rings secured to the same from the mold, substantially as described.

2. The process of producing duplicate sound records, which consists in placing concentricalbv Within a suitable rotatabie cylindrical mold a plurality of bearing rings, molding centrifugally a rotatable sound record of suitable composition in contact with the mold surface and with said rings, said rings being of a material which will not flow at the temperature at which the recrd mass is molded and which has a coeiiicientof ex? pansion approximately equal to that ofthe record material, and in extractin the record with the bearing rings secured tiereto from the mold, substantially as described.

.3. The process of producing duplicate sound re fords which consists in placing concentrically within a suitable rotatable cylindrical mold a plurality of bearinc rings, introducing a measured quantity of record material into the mold7 formin the said material centrifugally into a cy indrical record contacting with the mold surface and having the said bearing rings secured thereto, and in extracting the record s0 formed from the mold, substantially as described.

This specification signed and witnessed this 18th day of January 1911.

JONAS W. AYLSVVORTH. YVitnesses:

DYER SMITH,

ANNA R. KLEHM. 

